Shades of orange will drape the town, as Milford prepares for its annual Pumpkin Festival, to be held Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 11-13.

Committee treasurer Zoe Lantaff said planning is heavily underway, as musicians and vendors are being lined-up.

“The music acts are falling into place nicely,” she said. “But what happens in the music industry, is that sometimes a performer might overbook their time and they’ll let us know very close to the festival that they’ve over-scheduled themselves. Fortunately, there is a lot of musical talent in this area. That happened last year, and I was able to get a performer to fill in, without any issues.”

Historically, the festival attracts some 45,000 visitors from around the area and other states- neighboring or otherwise.

“It’s substantial,” said Lantaff. “We have a Facebook page and we have people that have asked questions- they’re planning their vacations around it. And some comments or questions came from several states away. As we know, around that time, here in New Hampshire is beautiful.”

Lantaff, who is originally from Nashua, said she loves Milford and that the pumpkin festival holds a special place within her family.

“It’s just a great community with a lot of caring individuals,” she said. “And we all work very hard to make this event happen. And these are not paid positions. We donate are time- a lot of time. It is a labor of love.”

“There’s a lot of history here, too, with regard to the pumpkin festival,” she continued. “The initial reason they had the first festival is because the town hall needed refurbishing. I don’t know if they ever planned on doing it again. And, here we are, thirty years later.”

Sponsorships play an important role in ensuring that the pumpkin festival can continue each year.

“Thankfully, we can rely on businesses and local businesses, vendors, who pay a fee to exhibit, and last year, we had a go-fund-me, as well as selling t-shirts,” said Lantaff. “We also had the Haunted Trail, organized by the Masons, which will happen again this year. So that’s how we secure a lot of the monies to fund the festival.”

Lantaff added that volunteers play an important role in the success of the festival and “they are deeply appreciated.” For information on participating, contact Kani Nicodemus at kanifitgirl@gmail.com.

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